RWBY DEATH BATTLE!
by deadpoolhulk
Summary: I wanted an excuse to do fight scenes so here's Death Battle! no plot, no restraint, just two characters going at it! first fight: Qrow vs Ironwood!


AN: hello and welcome to RWBY Death battle! Or just "i wanted to write fight scenes." either way works. So that's what this is, no context, and no reason, just two characters fighting to the death.

yes this is working on the rules of screw attacks Death battle series. They're both at their best, and fighting to kill, even though that is out of character.

Without further ado. This takes place inside an ATLAS lab!

QROW VS IRONWOOD.

READY.

FIGHT!

Qrow gasped as he was thrown across the lab table, beakers, flasks and several other bits of probably expensive equipment were knocked aside and shattered to the floor. He used the momentum, gathering his hands against the table and pushing off with enough strength to let himself flip himself into the air.

As he straightened up his right hand reached back to snatch his weapon from its place on his back. By the time he landed in a crouch, both feet on the edge of the table, it had unshifted itself into its longsword form. The weight of it gave him the confidence to smirk at the other man.

"So Jimmy, I guess we're doing this?" Qrow spoke, his voice a forced casual tone, but giving the General one last chance to back down before this got bad for one of them. He shifted his feet in the lull, giving himself a better stance to defend himself.

Ironwood's answer was to raise his revolver to eye level. The table raising Qrow enough to translate to the barrel being aimed at his heart. Qrow could barely hear himself think 'Well so much for negotiations' over the gunshots. He threw himself sideways, the bullets passing through the space he'd occupied a heart beat earlier, rolling to the floor and coming up in a kneeling position to and bring the flat of his blade to bare in time to serve as a shield, absorbing the next three shots better then the meat of his chest would have.

It seemed likely that Ironwood was happy to just keep shooting at him until either he got lucky, or the scythe-master messed up, neither option being that appealing to Qrow, who moved to take the offensive, he leapt. Not directly at his opponent, who had clearly expected that and had already been aiming to take advantage, but diagonally moving towards Ironwood's right, and less metallic, side.

Whatever Qrow thought of Ironwood, he couldn't deny the man was quick on the uptake. Even as Qrow was swinging for his waist, aiming to cut Ironwood in half and end this in one blow, the general was reacting with the perfection expected of a military veteran. The general executed a textbook, and flawless, forwards roll, the blade doing nothing but abusing the open air above him. Before he had even finished his gun was back up and firing.

That could have been it, but whether it was disorientation, a lack of time to really focus, the fact both men were moving... or plane bad luck, the shots went wide and gave Qrow the chance to regroup and come in again. This time though, they were both changing their tune.

A single pull on the right part of his weapon set the gears inside into motion, the blade started to fall forwards and separate, the segments bending and extending away from the hilt to take on its true form. Qrow placed both hands on the Scythes staff and twirled it in a lazy semi circle around him, relishing the familiar shape.

Ironwood meanwhile chose to take advantage of his cybernetics and simply lifted the closest piece of equipment and hurled it at him.

Qrow had no idea what it was, nor did he have time to care, but it looked like a giant microwave with more buttons and a scroll screen in the side of it. His eyes widened and he swung upwards. The scythe went through the fancy appliance like it was made of wood, sending the two halves careening past him spitting sparks and broken glass.

"Does your budget even cover loosing toys like th-" Qrow started to mock Ironwood before realising he'd fallen for a distraction rather then a true attack. Ironwood had closed the gap and his metal fist came like a sledgehammer into Qrow's chest.

"shut up." Ironwood finally spoke as he watched the air leave Qrow's lungs and his body go crashing backwards. The Hunters Aura would certainly bare the worst of that but the general damn well found it satisfying.

Qrow's retort was to once again shift his weapon and open fire. Ironwood turned his body INTO the path of the shots, the cybernetic side of his torso having been built to withstand a higher calibre then the drunk fool had to offer. Maybe that's why Qrow's next shots were for his legs. James gasped as the bullets found their mark, his aura having to do its job well to keep him from loosing yet another limb.

Standing out in the open was for the birds, and both men found themselves cover in short order, exchanging pot-shots and taking the chance to breath. Ironwood emptied his first clip into the filing cabinet he'd seen Qrow dive behind, and in the lull of reloading, he realised that Qrow hadn't actually been firing back for a good five or so seconds.

This was almost certainly a bad sign.

Cautious but determined, Ironwood got out of cover and slowly made his way towards the cabinet, never once taking his eyes or gun off the spot, ready to take the fools head off the second it poked itself. He did everything he could to avoid making any sound until he was almost upon it.

Still nothing.

Ironwood raised a foot and kicked the cabinet with all his strength. It shifted and fell with a terrible metal crash... onto the floor and nothing else. Which meant Qrow had been out of sight for a solid minute. Ironwood growled and immediately started to scan the room, looking for any sight of him.

Nothing.

"Qrow! You can't get anywhere by running!" Ironwood shouted out, trying to provoke him into showing himself. There was a sound from behind him, and Ironwood span on reflex, opening up with a series of shots in that direction.

More lab equipment practically exploded from the power of his revolver, but nothing living was hit. Because Ironwood had never thought to look UP.

The black bird swooped down from the light fixtures above the stupefied general, and when it was close enough that he could have reached out to touch it, it transformed into what was clearly Qrow's boots. Followed thereafter by the rest of him, but understandably it was his feet that drew his attention as they both slammed squarely into his face.

Ironwood's vision temperamentally darkened, and he was barely able to stay up, swinging wildly through the pain to get him away. His head rang, it was hard to think, there was a cut across his cheek from the point of contact that wasn't worth the concentration needed to heal, but his instincts told him he was still in danger. As soon as his sight cleared back up he saw Qrows blade arcing up towards him, cutting a deep groove through his aura and staggering him once again.

Qrow snarled and pushed his advantage, delivering a flurry of furious blows with the speed only a master of his weapon could, every single movement was feeding momentum into the next attack, again and again putting everything he could, and every blow an attempt at a killing blow.

James was seconds from his aura giving out and his body being reduced to meaty chunks, so in desperation he did the only thing he could. His hand reached out and managed to close around the blade. Metal ground against metal as Qrow tried to pull his scythe free in vain. A contest of strength with the cyborg general was the last thing he could afford right now.

Ironwood gritted his teeth and yanked, managing to get Qrow off balance enough to punch him in the face with his flesh and bone hand. Qrow refused to let go, even with the danger and in fact retaliated by trying to kick Ironwoods kneecap in, but a shift in balance managed to stop him.

So Ironwood headbutted him, slamming his forehead against Qrow's nose. Qrow's grasp weakened just a little and that was all it took to have the scythe twisted from his grip and hurled away to clatter into the wreckage of the lab.

Ironwood raised his gun and paused. "A bird?" if this was the end, he wanted to know.

Qrow titled his head and spat out a mouthful of blood, grinning all the while. "trustin' Oz comes with the occasional bonus. Not that you'd know anything about that Jimmy." He had backed off a step, reaching for something.

The words touched a nerve and Ironwood was convinced to do something stupid. Instead of ending this with a bullet, he walked forwards and smacked Qrow hard, rattling the hunters already bruised face before grabbing him with a single hand and lifting him by his throat.

"Cease talking for once in your life Qrow." James demanded, tightening his grip enough to start cutting off the air supply to Qrow's lungs.

Despite the shade of blue Qrow's face was turning, that damned smirk never faded. "gonna have to make me, Jimmy." He challenged. He had been reaching for, and had grabbed, his flask, and in one hail Mary attempt, splashed the contents into Ironwood's face. High strength spirits and open cuts (let alone your eyes) was a bad combination, and Ironwood yelled in a mix of stinging pain and shock, letting Qrow go on impulse as his hands went to his face to try and wipe it away.

Qrow landed unsteadily but didn't have time to take more then a single gasp before he delivered three sharp punches to the human parts of Ironwood's gut, leaving the general to be the one with no air in his lungs for the single moment needed for Qrow to turn and vault over a nearby table to try and put distance between them. As he went he snatched up a beaker and hurled it at Ironwood's head, but it went wide and shattered somewhere behind the General.

The lab was almost entirely a write off at this point, there was more things in rubble then intact, and it was a minor miracle that no fires had been started, and that the lighting system still worked. The chaos worked against Qrow since he had no idea where his scythe was or where to even start looking. He'd been a little distracted by a fist in his face when it'd been thrown after all.

Qrow pushed past the screaming protests of his body as he tried to find a plan. At first he had been wanting something to give him cover, thinking he could try to bait Ironwood into wasting all the ammunition he had left to even up the odds. But Qrow knew Jimmy, the organised bastard was never caught without a surplus of spare magazines for exactly that reason.

With that out of the question, Qrow just tried to keep moving fast enough, darting and zig zagging around the lab, leaping over and rolling under different parts of the lab to keep himself not where Ironwood was aiming. Bullets whizzed past his head, sometimes close enough he swore he could feel the air current pass by. He needed his weapon. Hell he needed ANY weapon at this point!

The closest thing he could find was a lab stool missing two of it's legs, and with utter distaste he snatched it up and held it like a baseball bat as he ran. Better then nothing, but only at the bare minimum.

If Qrow was the wind, Ironwood was a mountain. He had not moved from the spot he stood since he had lost his grip on Qrow. He had not had to. The lab was spacious but not enough that Qrow actually had anywhere to go. It didn't matter that he was currently missing his shots, there was only so long a man could run and dip and wave before his body slowed. The moment Qrow did, he'd catch a bullet in the skull. And they both knew it.

Qrow grit his teeth and decided that this was for the birds as once again he was a heart beat from being shot apart with nothing to show for it. So he turned on his heel the second he heard the familiar click of a gun running empty and charged.

Ironwood had already ejected the empty clip by the time Qrow had started sprinting AT him.

He had already taken a fresh clip from his coat by the time the huntsman had halved the distance.

The clip was being inserted as Qrow brought the stool back in preparation to swing.

And James had raised the gun, aimed it at Qrow's face and pulled the trigger before his opponent had had a chance to follow through.

Then the stool smashed itself into his head and Ironwood was driven to one knee. Qrow yelled, the stool had shattered and he brought the jagged piece of stool leg that remained in his hands down like a dagger to stab it deep into Ironwood's human shoulder with a spray of blood.

Ironwood tried to comprehend what had just happened. His metallic hand took the revolver from the fleshy hand that was now numb and barely responding. He raised it and aimed for Qrow, who had put his hands in his pockets and had actually started to walk away from him. Ironwood would have laughed at the arrogance were it not for his anger, he levelled the gun at the red cape hanging from his opponents shoulders and pulled the trigger once more.

Click.

And again.

Click.

Qrow bent and picked up his scythe, rose, and turned back to him with an expression of disappointment and... was that pity?

"Your gun jammed Jimmy." Qrow said calmly as he returned to Ironwood's side, with the twist and click of cogs, the scythe returned itself to the sword configuration that it had begun the battle in. "That's pretty bad luck if I say so myself."

James understood at once, and through the pain he glared with rage. "you cheating bastard Qrow!"

Qrow only shrugged, seeming tired, and upset and most of all, weary. "yep. For whatever it might be worth, I didn't have any say in the matter. See ya' round James."

With a single swipe, Qrow removed Ironwood's head from his shoulders.

K.O.

AN: okay to make it clear I wrote it that way for a reason. Ironwood would have taken the win without Qrow's semblance. Because it LOOKS like on a purely physical level Ironwood is tougher. Especially with the cybernetics.

But Qrow has three advantages. One is his weapon has three forms so his style is more varied. Ironwood only has a gun. Two is the power to transform because that's a pretty good ace in the hole and Three. since we have no idea what his semblance is, and Qrow's is one of the more powerful ones we've seen in the show, I decided to give it to him!

This was fun! If you guys have more ideas for fights suggest them in reviews and I might do more! Thanks for reading!


End file.
